Rediff On The NeT: United Front disunited in states


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January 27, 1998

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United Front disunited in states

R R Nair in New Delhi

As the last date for filing nominations approaches, infighting in the United Front has come to the fore, with partners deciding to fight among themselves in more than one state.

Mohan Prakash, the Janata Dal spokesperson, told Rediff On The NeT, "We will contest 23 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh and 176 all over the country. I can't say whether there will be any patch-up with the Samajwadi Party."

Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav's SP is in no mood to relent. "It is better to lose two or three seats than to give them so many seats. Last time we contested 60 seats and won 16. Nobody talks about the number of seats we contested, but everybody talks in terms of our vote percentage. So our attempt would be to increase our vote share," revealed a top SP official.

The SP feels the Janata Dal, which contested 17 seats and won two the last time, would fare worse this time. "We won't give tickets to people who want to contest just for the heck of it. There are no votes or notes (money) for the JD in UP and we won't let them have a piggyback ride," says a SP leader.

It is not just UP that leaves the UF disunited. Curiously, the party whose chief has been assigned the arbiter's role in UP, is finding the going difficult in Tamil Nadu.

Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet was to talk to Mulayam Singh and resolve the seat sharing wrangles in UP.

Ironically, his party is in search of new allies in Tamil Nadu after the DMK-TMC refused to allot it more than one seat, as against the CPI-M's demand for six.

"Talks are still on. In any case the CPI-M will not fight us. They were offered the Coimbatore seat. But as they have not taken it, the DMK would be fielding its candidate there. We are still with the UF in Tamil Nadu, and are contesting from Nagapattinam and Sivakasi," Communist Party of India's national secretary D Raja told Rediff On The NeT.

The CPI-M is meanwhile trying to convince Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi that it was the Left parties which supported the Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam to the hilt when the other UF constituents were not averse to the idea of going without the DMK once the Congress threatened to topple the government over the Jain Commission report findings.

In UP, Mulayam Singh is confident of getting more seats and more vote percentage than he had got the last time, more so because the Bahujan Samaj Party is perceived to be weak and unable to take its voters to the polling booths without a strong ally.

"The JD won't win any seat. We will have to give them workers, resources, we will have to supply them everything and once they come to power it wouldn't be Mulayam Singh who would be their leader but Deve Gowda or Sharad Yadav. Why should we oblige them?" asks a senior SP leader, reflecting the general attitude in his party towards a partner.

The SP would not field candidates against former prime minister Chandra Shekhar and Minister of State for Finance Satpal Maharaj.

The JD hopes to convince Mulayam Singh and be able to contest in at least eight to 10 seats and the Communist parties in two to three seats. But "let them keep hoping" is the SP's attitude.

The CPI has already filed nominations for six constituencies in UP. "There is nothing new in these last minute discussions, it happens during elections. As we can't wait any longer we have filed our nominations but they are subject to negotiations," says Raja.

Even if the constituents manage to get a few concessions from the regional satraps, the national parties in the UF would have no alternative but to put up a few candidates against their allies in a few seats across the country. Even if they do not have a sizeable presence in these areas, being national parties they cannot afford to lose their 'national image.' And that is the story behind partners fighting each other in state after state.